What a difference changing spark plugs makes!

[dogememe]

According to factory maintenance recommendations for the 2010 Ford Escape, severe service spark plug change interval is 60K and typical use is 90K I think. Well, I think either 90K is far too long or this car was used under "severe service" by the prior owner because changing these made a HUGE difference on my Escape which has about 65K miles. It runs MUCH smoother, much less vibration at idle, and the instant MPG calculation is about 1.5-2MPG better in the same driving conditions. I went from hating this car's excessively vibrating and poor performing engine to being impressed with how well it runs.

If you have an Escape, Fusion, or other car with the 2.5L engine, you should really consider changing them every 50K even if you drive the car normally - you'll be much happier with the performance and smoothness. Plus, plugs are cheap, it'll pay for itself in fuel savings. The old ones didn't look bad, but I guess they were bad, simply because of how much better the car is now. I used Motorcraft Iridium SP530 plugs.

 

[gathermewool]

Not likely

 

[danez_yoda]

what were the gaps on the old plugs vs new.

Are you new plugs the same heat range as the old ones?

 

[FermeLaPorte]

When they say "normal driving" it means just mostly highway driving.
When they say severe duty, they mean "normal" traffic driving to the supermarket and such.

Hope dis helps

 

[Linctex]

Originally Posted By: gathermewool
Not likely


Pretty much what I was thinking.

You'd have to have a pretty bad misfire (one that throws a CEL) to get a 1.5-2 MPG improvement.

 

[SZR48207]

Might be a Ford thing? I noticed a similar improvement in my old F150 when I swapped out the plugs.

 

[dogememe]

Originally Posted By: Linctex
Originally Posted By: gathermewool
Not likely


Pretty much what I was thinking.

You'd have to have a pretty bad misfire (one that throws a CEL) to get a 1.5-2 MPG improvement.


no check engine light, no codes

 

[dblshock]

Ford probably hard on plugs, these Deso's go +100k in a Toyota and you can't tell they've been changed out.

 

[dogememe]

Originally Posted By: dblshock
Ford probably hard on plugs, these Deso's go +100k in a Toyota and you can't tell they've been changed out.


Denso makes Motorcraft plugs? I didn't know that

 

[dblshock]

Ford Motorcraft one of the two...those plugs look to be in good shape...todays plugs go +100k

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

Really? I went 150K on spark plugs in a 2000 Cadillac Deville Northstar. Changed them and.....Nothing, no difference in idle, feel, MPG. I was surprised that it was a waste of time.

 

[dogememe]

Originally Posted By: 2strokeNorthstar
Really? I went 150K on spark plugs in a 2000 Cadillac Deville Northstar. Changed them and.....Nothing, no difference in idle, feel, MPG. I was surprised that it was a waste of time.


I have owned many GM vehicles and have never noticed a difference from changing spark plugs. Except going back to ACDelcos instead of trash E3s in an 02 Envoy but that doesn't count because it was aftermarket junk at fault not GM.

 

[malibuguy79]

similar situation for me. on my Yaris they claim like 100k for the plugs. at 65k I developed a random miss. changed the plugs all is well

currently have 139k, went the drag strip the other weekend & i was down 3mph...in cold air with an awesome density altitude. also lately Ive noticed my average MPGs were about 4-6 less then normal.

then eureka!

I realized my plugs had about 75K on em. Sure as snot they were done. Car runs so much smoother and better. I just filled up, got over 60 miles more on this tank then the last few.

Kinda want to get back to the track now before it gets warm!

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

Track? Drag-strip? Yaris?

 

[dogememe]

Originally Posted By: 2strokeNorthstar
Track? Drag-strip? Yaris?


Hey, a Yaris is about as slow as my Escape, we can't judge!

But seriously, I'm glad I'm not the only one who changed their plugs "early" with positive results.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: dblshock
Ford probably hard on plugs, these Deso's go +100k in a Toyota and you can't tell they've been changed out.


Does that Duratec still use a waste fire system? If it does, then it fires twice per cycle instead of a regular spark plug that just does it once.

Mercedes uses a multi spark system in their direct injection engine which can fire up to 4 times per cycle so they spec a 60k replacement interval.

 

[sh40674]

changed plugs on a buddys 10' edge, the car was right at 100k. can't remember specifically the gaps, but the old plugs were about .050 over stock lol. huge difference when changing the plugs. he said better mileage and ran a lot better.

for comparison my dodge ram eats plugs at 30k. i try to change them every 25k. they'll be .030-040 over gap when i change them, and when i have the new ones in i don't notice a difference at all. a little smoother idle, that's about it.

maybe it's a ford thing?

 

[tmorris1]

I changed out my plugs at 100k on my 2006 Focus and the plugs looked pretty good. Not much of a gap change and ran the same. I will hit 200k early this summer and I will probably change them out again because it is a 15 minute job, but it still runs the same to me.

 

[NYEngineer]

My 09 Suburban certainly runs well enough but I changed the plugs and wires at about 85,000 miles in anticipation of a long road trip. Truck ran noticeably smoother.

 

[dogememe]

Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Originally Posted By: dblshock
Ford probably hard on plugs, these Deso's go +100k in a Toyota and you can't tell they've been changed out.


Does that Duratec still use a waste fire system? If it does, then it fires twice per cycle instead of a regular spark plug that just does it once.

Mercedes uses a multi spark system in their direct injection engine which can fire up to 4 times per cycle so they spec a 60k replacement interval.


It's coil on plug, not waste spark. Were there really any vehicles left over that aren't COP in 2010?